Shadows from the Past
by Oceanera12
Summary: (SEQUEL to 'Living in a Shadow') Nicole the Hedgehog was sent on an unwanted mission by her mentor, Shadow. She suddenly finds herself in a very familiar story, but finds out that she has a part in it...a part that is unknown. Confused and lost, Nicole has to pull her self together and full-fill her part, even though she has no idea what she's supposed to do in this past tragedy...
1. Chapter 1

**Sequel time! Woo-hoo! Okay so this is a sequel to 'Living in a Shadow' so if you haven't read the first one, I highly recommend you read it. I don't think that this one will be quite as long as my first so don't worry. I got the idea for this story a while back, but I'll explain that later because I don't want to do any spoilers. I'm pretty sure most of the story will take place from Nicole's POV, maybe one chapter will not. Once again: NO CURSING IN REVIEW'S. Thank you! Okay let's start!**

Nicole POV:

When Shadow teleported me, the first thing I thought was something like, "I'm gonna kill him."

I landed on the ground very sloppily. Slowly I sat up and looked around. I was sitting on the floor in the middle of a laboratory. The lab was...strange. Vials were all along the walls, with some sort of gel inside, and some of them had what looked like animals inside. There were several counters and chemical jars all around. Note to self: watch where I step.

I stood up and stretched my arms...then froze. I stared at my arms in shock and disbelief. They were _red_. Not black and red, jut pure red. I looked down and noticed my clothing had changed. Instead of my black pants and red t-shirt I was know wearing gray pants along with a forest green shirt. My red goggles were missing...and I was not happy about that. When I examined the rest of me, I found that I had turned completely red.

"How did that happen?" I asked aloud. First idea that popped in my head; chaos energy. Sure enough, I closed my eyes and felt the small layer that covered me. I removed it and found my normal self...but I was wearing the same shirt and pants. Great. Shadow must have changed my color...but why? I decided to be safe and changed myself back to that horrible red fur.

"Okay...so now what?"

My answer came in the most unexpected way. A door to my right opened and in walked a human boy. He couldn't be more than his early twenties and had sandy brown hair with blue eyes. He looked up from his clipboard rather startled to see me standing there. He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a...scalpel? Okay then... Rather loudly he called out,

"Um...Professor?"

A muffled voice answered back. "What is it Anderson?"

 _"Anderson? Wait, what?"_

"You didn't say you made another life form."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a red thing in here that's now glaring at me."

"What!? Catch it!"

The boy looked at me then surged forward.

I decided I didn't like this situation and turned around and ran out the other door.

"Hey! Come back!"

 _"I'm gonna go with no, but thanks anyway."_

I ran into a very long hallway...like I couldn't see the end because it just curved around in a circle. I ran as fast as I could with the crazy boy and a few other scientist's behind me.

"Come back here you!"

"Stop!"

I continued to run then took a sharp left and flung open a door. Slamming it behind me I panted, out of breath.

"Um...are you lost?" a small voice asked from behind.

I whirled around and pushed myself against the door.

The speaker was a girl, about twelve years old. She was wearing a pink dress and had a matching headband to keep her bright blonde out of her hair. The girl was sitting on the ground, with her legs to one side. I began to relax until I saw two issues.

First issue: I was staring at the earth. And I don't mean earth like garden I mean earth like the planet.

Second problem: A very familiar black and red hedgehog was standing to the left, next to the girl. He still had the frown, but didn't look quite as menacing.

I just stared at him, then turned my vision on the girl. _Blonde hair, blue eyes...human girl...oh no...he didn't...he did._

She stared at me with a very innocent look. She smiled and repeated her question. "Are you lost?"

I didn't answer but turned back around and flung the door back open. I literally took two steps when I ran into one of the scientists. With a yelp and a scramble I ducked back into the room with the hedgehog and girl. I ran then dropped to the ground directly between the two groups.

Anderson walked in with another familiar face. Rather large, mustache, red hair, lab coat.

My brain was about to explode. Professor Robotinik, Shadow, Maria...I was on Space Colony ARK 75 years in the past.

 **Oh yes I did. Get your mercenary OC's ready! I will be asking for them when I finish this story. DON'T SEND THEM NOW. I just need you to start thinking about it. This story will probably be ten chapters at the most. I hope it explains something's (in my point of view) of some of the strangeness on the ARK. Review, review, review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Okay, review comment's then I'll stop the torcher of waiting.**

 **nohailzone: obviously you did not read the summery or look at the mentioned characters. Also, the title has PAST in it. I'm just having a hard time seeing how you thought I was going to the future. But I guess I can be confusing at certain points. Especially when DW get's involved.**

 **DylanDamboise321: I'm so glad you liked the first chapter! Yes Shadow is so mean for sending her here, but there's a reason...which I will not explain until the final author notes on this story.**

 **Christian Ape99: Thanks for the heads up. Thanks for the review and I'll try and keep up the awesomeness.**

 **TheRealOTC: Yes this is a sub-sequel. Don't worry, we'll get back to second generation...eventually. As for the time travel...Shadow has perfected time travel using chaos control. Think Sonic '06, but not as...you know.**

 **Shadowsthebest: Who doesn't love a good ARK story? Don't answer that.**

 **Meadow of Blossom Patches: I always love your reactions. They make my day. Yes this does change everything.**

 **On to the story then!**

Nicole's POV:

I was really annoyed and confused. Shadow had not only sent me through time, but he also decided to send me to _this_? Okay then...

While I was having fun on the floor, the professor stepped forward another step. "Where did this one come from? Who made a life form?" He looked back at all of the scientists with a very serious glare. Very quickly, all of them denied making me or even knowing about me.

Maria was still inching over to me as slowly and unthreatening as possible. "Grandfather...maybe she knows."

The professor nodded. "Good idea Maria, very good idea." He beamed at his young granddaughter. Then he turned his eyes on me. "You! Who made you?"

I raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. What was I supposed to say to that? Martha Anderson...but she wasn't really alive right now. So...what?

The young girl must have thought that her grandfather had frightened me. "There, there...we aren't going to hurt you Miss- Um...what's your name?"

At this point I came up with the simplest explanation to this situation. "I don't know who created me and I don't have a name."

All of the scientists began to whisper amongst themselves. Maria got this really sad look on her face. "Oh! You poor thing. Well, I guess we're going to have to name you... Let's see..."

I face palmed myself for telling her I didn't have a name. I was not going to be called Fluffy, or something dumb like Shada.

Quickly, Professor Robotnik came to my rescue. "Now, now Maria. We first need to figure out what she is...come along Miss." He motioned for me to follow him. I followed like an obedient dog, but on the inside I groaned. I've had tests done on me to last a life time...but I guess that was part of me being a partial clone.

So I was herded into a large laboratory where I had blood drawn, DNA tests, and a whole bunch of other tests. Not the best experience of my life. After several hours the scientists came to two conclusions:

1\. I had been in secret on the ARK and had probably been released on accident.

2\. I had some of the Ultimate Life-forms DNA imbedded in me.

Well...they got half of it right.

The professor then came to the conclusion that I was a harmless, gentle, and lost creature, thus, I should be put under the care of the intern Thomas Anderson and the guidance of his loving granddaughter. That conclusion confused me a little bit. Harmless and gentle were not the usual adjectives to describe me. Lost made sense though...

Roughly ten minutes later I found myself in the same room that I had been trapped in previously with a twelve year old and a black and red hedgehog.

I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry...so I decided on silence.

"Hi! I'm Maria, Maria Robotnik." The girl curtsied politely. She then pointed at Shadow. "And this is my best friend, Shadow."

He nodded to me in a very...quiet and kind way? Okay...I did not see that coming. Unlike the Shadow I was use to, this one didn't have a menacing glare or look angry... _at all._ I found it a little...creepy.

Without noticing my confusion, Maria proceeded to walk around me. She looked up and down, then examined the color of my eyes and fur. She nodded very seriously, then backed up. "How about...Lucy?"

With a start, I realized she was offering names. Before I could respond, Shadow replied for me.

"No."

The girl shrugged. "You're right...to fluffy. How about...Yolanda?"

I stared at her. "Um...where are we? Spain?"

"No, but I think it's a very pretty name. What do you think?"

Shadow and I exchanged a look and then in unison chimed, "No."

"Grace?"

I shook my head.

"Mary?"

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Emma?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"How about, McKenna?"

Two hedgehogs shook their heads in unison. I sat down on the cold floor and was quickly joined by the other two.

We sat for another hour listing names. Shadow inputted a few, but Maria complained that they were boy names. I pointed out the fact that Taylor could be a girl and boy name. She then came back with the fact that she didn't know a single girl named Ryan. We moved on from that subject.

Finally, everyone fell silent.

I stared out the window at the stars. It really was a beautiful view of the earth...although I think I preferred just staring at pictures taken from telescopes. Just thinking about how far we were up from earth made me sick to the stomach.

Maria suddenly spoke up. "How about Nikki?"

Secretly, I wanted to hug the girl. No one wants to be called a name that's not their own.

Shadow paused. "How would you spell it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"N-I-K-K-I."

The hedgehog scrunched his face. "Make it N-I-C-K-Y and I think we're agreed."

"That's a boy's name!"

Before the two could move on, I cut in. "Nicky! I like it! And for the record, what's wrong with the boyish version? I'm not a princess."

Shadow smirked at Maria in triumph. She rolled her eyes then stuck out her tongue.

Then the hedgehog began to chuckle. I stared at him, a little fascinated and a little confused. Of course I knew he changed after Maria's death...but not this much.

Maria joined in and soon they were laughing out loud. I joined in shortly later, but was quickly interrupted by a coughing fit from Maria. The young girl coughed until her body shook with the ragged coughs.

Shadow stopped laughing, quickly knelt by her side, and then took her hand reassuringly. "Take deep breaths...In...Out...In...Out."

Slowly, but surely, Maria caught her breath. "Sorry...I'm such a spoil sport."

I frowned. "No your not. Your fine. Don't worry about it.

The girl smiled weakly, then began to cough again. Shadow held her shaking body. I stared at the pair in awe. The hedgehog had a look of worry on his face that showed how much he had grown to love this young girl. Maria gripped Shadow's hand for comfort and strength, which she drew from him.

As I stared at this strong friendship, a feeling of sorrow washed over me. One gun shot...and this would be destroyed. Suddenly, I felt intruding.

Very slowly and unnoticed, I crept out of the room. Very softly, I shut the door and left the two alone. As I walked down the hall, my mentor's word's came ringing back to me.

 _"Remember, you can't change the past, but you can impact the future."_

I continued walking in silence. _"What do you want me to do? I can't save her, and I know you know that. So why did you send me here?"_

No one answered as I entered my assigned ward and climbed into bed. No one answered as I drifted off to a very long, and restless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! Summer is going to start very soon so I hope that means more updating for me! Okay, reviews.**

 **Christian Wolf27: Favorite bear character?...well I can't think of anyone else than Smokey. Love him! I'll do my best.**

 **nohailzone: okay...now I get it. As for Shadow...he is creepy. Warning: it get's worse.**

 **Meadow: I have to agree. Even though it's kind of creepy, he's also kind of cute...(;**

 **DylanDamboise321: Yes she does feel horrible. I mean, I would feel awful. Okay...next sequel. It's not what you think...trust me.**

 **Okay on with the story.**

Nicole's POV:

Okay…things started to get really strange when the troublesome threesome (Maria, Shadow, and I) made some cookies explode. Maybe I should back up.

Over the past two days I had been getting to know my caretakers. I figured out that Anderson was defiantly an ancestor of Martha. He looked similar, acted similar, and even talked similar to my caretaker. So let's just say I knew how to handle him.

Maria was a little…different then I imagined. I always pictured this girl who was brave and strong, but she was actually…pretty weak. I guess she was sick, but it never really hit me until now. Slowly, I discovered how sick she was. Five pills a day, three shot's a week, and blood tests every month, means your very sick, in my opinion. But she was one of the sweetest girls I'd ever met. No cross word ever left her mouth, she was very polite to everyone, and helped out to the best of her ability. All of these attributions didn't make it easy for me to not grow attached to her. No matter how many times I reminded myself about her faith, I just couldn't pull away.

Shadow was…interesting. Everything I had previously known about this hedgehog was thrown window and I pulled out a clean sheet of paper. First thing that almost made me die: he actually had a sense of humor.

On the first day of my stay, Maria and him had pranked a lab of scientist by moving his notes around when he wasn't looking. Every time the poor man turned around, Shadow would zip by and move the notes to a table. After five times, the two pranksters got caught and were chased out of the lab with a fly swatter. The entire time, they were laughing and jesting with the pranked man.

Second thing that almost killed me: his favorite food was _chili dogs._ When I found this out, I had to sit down because I was laughing so hard. Maria and him shared a really confused look, but shrugged it off after a minute.

The third thing was the fact that he wasn't mysterious and withdrawn from everyone. Every morning, I came out, sat down, and was immediately asked about last night's sleep. The first time that happened, I literally fell out of my chair. Slowly, I got use to this new Shadow…but it was still really weird.

After two days of startling discoveries, Maria decided we should bake something. Not sure why, but she wanted to make cookies for fun. So we found the kitchen, grabbed some flour and a bunch of other ingredients, and started baking.

While the three of us were crowded the oven, waiting very impatiently for the cookies to finish, a scientist came in and took the baking soda can without any of us noticing.

Maria started a game of would-you-rather after about two minutes of waiting to pass the time.

"Would you rather…jump off the high dive or climb out of a fifteen foot hole?"

"What kind of question is that?" I didn't really like the options. Yesterday, I had admitted to being afraid of heights and Shadow wasn't letting me forget it.

"Answer it."

"Okay, okay. Jump off the high dive." My mind went back to the time when the hedgehog who was sitting in front of me shoved me from a very high cliff.

Maria asked Shadow a question. "Would you rather give up chili dogs forever, or be stuck in the ARK for the rest of your life?"

"You're really mean sometime, you know."

I chuckled at the two then looked at the slowly cooking cookies. As I stared at them, I shook my head in confusion. Then I blinked several times and then rubbed my eyes. "Um…is it me, or are those cookies glowing blue?"

Maria leaned over and stared into the oven. "Maybe it's the light."

"The light it yellow," Shadow pointed out.

I looked a little closer at the glowing cookies. They were sort of glowing like a- Quickly, I grabbed Maria and Shadow by the shoulder and shoved them away from the oven.

The two cried in surprise, but I ignored them and turned back to the oven. "Chaos Shield!" I shouted and a light gold glow surrounded the oven just in time.

The cookies exploded with such a force, that the shield broke. Painfully, I went flying back from the shockwave as shrapnel flew about the kitchen. Shadow had attempted to cover Maria after the explosion and it was a good thing he did. A large piece of metal hit him in the back and he grunted in pain, but didn't move from the position.

After the chaos ended, I stood up, my hands shaking. "Is everyone alright?"

Slowly, Maria stood up. "I am…Shadow, are you okay?"

The hedgehog grunted, then fell to the ground. The young girl cried out in alarm and knelt down to examine him. As quickly as possible, I navigated through the shrapnel and fell down next to him. I examined the wound with great care. "His spine's broken…how is that even possible?"

Maria's face paled. "That shrapnel…it would have hit…"

I calculated the shrapnel's flight projection and discovered it would have hit Maria in the head. If that had broken Shadow's spine… I shook my head. No way was I going to think about that right now, what with Shadow's injury and all.

Professor Robotnik ran in with a panic. "What happened? Is everything alright?" His eyes fell on the three of us, not three feet from the demolished stove with barely a scratch…well minus Shadow.

"What happened?"

I took a deep breath. "Um…the cookies exploded. But that's not important right now; Shadow's spine got snapped by a large and very fast piece of shrapnel. Can you do anything?"

The professor maneuvered through the mine field then knelt down next to the hedgehog, which was now unconscious and groaning in pain. Gerald took one look and then groaned. "There's nothing we can do. He will not be able to run, let alone walk. I'm sorry…"

Maria cried softly, "Oh Grandfather, you know how much he enjoyed running. How is he going to handle this?" She continued to cry.

Meanwhile, I just stared at him very confused. Okay…so in the future he can run with the best…so what does that mean for me? Then it hit me. _Duh._ I placed my hands on the injury then closed my eyes.

"This is going to hurt like heck, but you'll thank me later," I mumbled.

Maria looked up confused.

"Chaotic Healing," a soft glow filled my hands and entered the hedgehog. Shadow screamed as the injury healed. Almost as soon as I finished, Maria shoved me away.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" she exclaimed.

The professor looked back down, "Actually…"

Slowly and very painfully, Shadow sat up rubbing his head. "What happened?"

No one moved. All eyes were on the injury-free hedgehog.

Rolling my eyes, I helped my future mentor up. "The cookies exploded, you were injured, I healed you, and now we're here."

After that statement, Maria got over her state of shock. "Shadow! Are you alright?" she flung her arms around him then pulled back and examined him.

Confused and befuddled, Shadow nodded. "Yeah…why wouldn't I be?"

Over to the left, Professor Robotnik looked shocked. "You- but- I- um- what-…What just happened? How did you do that?"

I shrugged. "Chaos energy. How else?"

The professor stared blankly at me. "That doesn't really help the peculiar situation."

"Chaos Control, duh. You use the same properties as…" I trailed off as Gerald continued to stare at me. "You do know what Chaos Control is…right?" I pointed the question at the recovering hedgehog, the sick girl, and the befuddled professor.

One by one they answered, and I felt my heart stop.

"No."

"Chaos what?"

"Um…"

 **Records scratching. Wait what? Oh My Chaos... Review! Review! REVIEW! You guys are amaze!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews! You guys are amaze!**

 **Christian Wolf27: Smokey the Bear. Defiantly.**

 **TheRealOTC: Yes he does, but no he's not a copycat. I'm a bit confused on the whole 'Faker' thing myself. Shadow was born first, but he was a science experiment. Sonic was years later, but he was actually born, so how they look alike is really confusing…mmm…**

 **nohailzone: This story took a weird turn…and it gets worse…again.**

 **On with the story! I hate cliffhangers…**

Nicole's POV:

I felt really confused. "You don't know what- You know what, never mind." Quickly, I crossed my arms and got in a defensive position. The years of glaring down enemies kicked in, and no one questioned me.

Instead, the professor turned his attention back to his creation and Maria. "How were you not injured from this distance?"

"Grandfather…I think Nicky raised a shield around the stove. It stopped most of the shrapnel, but it must have broken."

"Raised a shield, that's impossible," the professor shook his head in disbelief.

Slowly, I rubbed the back of my head, "Well…"

Unfortunately, this incident landed me into more testing and annoying questions I couldn't answer. I did chaos spears, blasts, and a whole bunch of other attacks…all in the name of science. I almost 'accidently' speared a scientist…but managed to restrain myself.

After two days, I was finally released from my torcher. I found Maria and Shadow staring out a window.

"Is that all you two do? Stare down at that planet?"

Shadow turned around and grinned slightly. The very sight made me shiver in confusion. "Look who was finally released."

"Nicky!" Maria cried. She ran over and hugged me tight. "Thank you for saving us! You're amazing."

 _Not that amazing. I can't stop you from dying…not every time._ After that happy thought, I changed the subject. "Shadow, you've never heard of chaos spears?"

"Um…no."

Slowly, I smiled. "Well you're about to hear about them." I dragged him out of the room into an empty lab that had been cleaned out. Maria followed a little confused, but laughing at the futile efforts of Shadow to get away from me. When we arrived I dragged him to the middle of the room.

"Maria, you may want to stand behind us."

The young girl nodded shyly then backed up against the wall.

With a mysterious glint in my eye, I clapped my hands together. "Okay, class is in session. Let's start with the basics. Chaos energy is…well chaotic. You need to be very careful when handling it. When using the energy field, you must have complete focus, or you chance blowing something up that you don't want to be blown up."

"Blown up?" Shadow asked rather sharply.

"Yes, keep up with me."

Okay…I have to admit. I may have liked being the teacher a bit too much.

I continued. "Okay, now take your right hand and hold it out like so." I placed my hand so the palm was facing my face.

Very reluctantly, Shadow copied.

"Now I want you to close your eyes. Focus on your gut. Do you feel something kind of swirling around inside of it? I want you to move that feeling to your right hand."

Slowly, but surely, Shadow found the energy and managed to bring a small glow to his hand.

I continued to push him until I thought it was enough. "Okay, now pretend you're holding a spear. I want you to throw that spear forward, but I want you to picture that spear is made of that swirling energy." I threw my chaos spear. It hit the far wall making a sharp popping noise that sounded like a mini firework.

My 'pupil' apparently, threw the energy. It flew in a dis-formed shape about two feet then hit the ground with a weak fizzle. Shadow had opened his eyes by this point.

"Did…did I just do that?"

"Yep…and that was actually pretty good for a first try. Let's try that again."

Eventually, Shadow was able to make a properly shaped spear with the right amount of energy. The only problem was his releasing of the spear.

"No! No! No! Shadow, you aren't focusing! You need to keep the energy in one solid movement, not like a hose. One giant drop of water instead of rain!"

Maria had gotten bored by this point and left to go read a book, so it was just the brooding hedgehog and Shadow…or was it the brooding hedgehog and me?

"Well I don't see why I need to learn this anyway! It's dumb and pointless! When in the world am I going to need it?"

Mentally, I slapped myself for getting into this mess. _Well there are those millions of times you used them to save the world. But other than that…nothing._

Slowly, I took a deep breath. "Okay…Shadow I know it's hard to believe, but one day you'll thank me. Now try one more time…please."

The hedgehog frowned, but summoned a spear. Without any hesitation, he threw it at the wall. It hit with a large snap…not quite as loud as mine, but that was expected. We stared at the wall in shock.

"I…I did it?"

"Yes, yes you did. I told you that you could do it!" I grabbed him by the arm and shook him with joy.

He smiled and threw another one. This one was almost perfect, but was a little deformed. He smiled even bigger.

Just then, Maria walked in. "So how are my two hedgehogs?"

Shadow zipped over. "Maria! Watch this!" He threw another spear at the wall. This one was perfect.

The young girl beamed at the hedgehog. "That is amazing Shadow! You have an amazing teacher, don't you?"

He nodded then turned to me and nodded his head in gratitude. "Thank you Nicky. I hope that you will show me some more soon."

My brain scrambled for any time I had thanked Shadow for training me. It never came to mind…I needed to fix that.

"No problem. We can continue tomorrow. But right now…"

Maria finished my thought. "Ice Cream for everyone!"

Shadow and I cheered (later I shivered at that) and we left the room with the young girl.

It had been a week since Shadow had perfected his spears. Since then, we had worked on physical combat, weaponry, and chaos blast. Seriously, how did he not know how to fight with his fists?

Maria came and watched sometimes, but most of the time she read a book or knitted in the corner.

One day, Shadow and I were sparing when Professor came in.

"Shadow, I need to- Holy!" He shouted as he caught sight of the sparing match. At the moment, Shadow was over powering me with several punches and kicks.

"Shadow! Cease this fighting! NOW!" the professor cried.

Maria frowned at her grandfather. "It's just training, grandfather."

Gerald glared at her, then realized who it was and lessened the glare. "Nicky…what have you been doing?" He asked in a deathly still whisper.

Slowly, I shuffled my feet. Shadow stood off to the side with a befuddled expression on his face. "Um…training…it there a problem?"

The professor glared at me. You know when he got angry, he sort of did resemble Eggman. "Yes there's a problem. I didn't want Shadow- Never mind. Shadow come with me. Nicky, this 'training' is to cease immediately." He marched out of the room.

The said hedgehog shrugged then hurried after his creator.

Maria stared after her grandfather. "How peculiar…why would my Grandfather be mad at you for showing Shadow his hidden talents?"

Quickly, I racked my brain for all of the knowledge I had on Project Shadow. It was a means for making the ultimate life-form, the ultimate weapon, and for saving Maria from her illness. Then there was that weird alien stuff and-

I face palmed myself. Well duh the professor doesn't want him fighting. Since he made that pact with the Black Arms, he was probably trying to prevent it in every way possible…including Shadow not being able to help them in their conquest. Then again, he sort of needed chaos control if he wanted to save the planet-

" _Nikki, you really need to stop fighting and debating with yourself,"_ I thought in frustration.

Meanwhile, Maria had put her book away and begun staring out the window.

"The Earth is so beautiful from up here. I wish…I wish I could go there."

Without thinking, I responded, "It is pretty amazing. The forests are breath taking, but I'm not a fan of all the cliffs and tall mountains. Oh and snow, I hate snow. When the sun rises it's so pretty, with orange, pink, and purple skies. You'd love it."

"Um…what?"

Then the reality of my statement sunk in. Hurriedly, I shook my hands, "I mean, that's what I read in a book! I was quoting a book! That wasn't something I've actually seen. It was something in a book! And…" I trailed off.

Maria just looked at me. "You've been there?"

"…No…"

"Don't lie to me; I know when you're lying."

Note to self: When I get home; smack Shadow. "Um…yes?"

A small squeal left the girl's mouth. "You've been there? What's it like? Is the food good? Are the people nice? What was your favorite place to visit? Where-?"

"Quiet!" I interrupted the building pile of questions. "Why don't you just announce it to the whole ARK, while you're at it…" I mumbled.

"Wait…" Maria scrunched her face in confusion, "How did you visit? I mean, you can't leave the ARK…right?"

I broke. Sorry, okay! But my brain was left back in the future, I was still trying to figure out what the heck was going on, and now I had a twelve year old corner me. Although I had been taught in the art of deceit…my brain had run dry. I could not come up with an excuse in three seconds to save my life.

"I…I…I can't tell you."

"What do you mean, you can't tell me? Don't you trust me?"

"Yes…but, this is too complicated."

"Try me."

Pausing, I remembered she was a Robotnik and it probably wouldn't confuse her at all.

"Look, I trust you but I can't tell you…I'm sorry."

Maria got this sad look on her face…and of course it made me feel guilty, I mean, it's Maria. As I tried to ignore that face I looked out the window at the giant planet below. Something caught my eye over to the left. I squinted at the object.

It appeared to be a shuttle…that happened to be flying towards the ARK.

"Oh my chaos…not now…"

Maria followed my gaze, "What is that?"

"It's a GUN shuttle."

 **Man, this story is flying by! Then again, I did say it would be a short story. I hate cliff hangers, but I do them all the time…mmm…**

 **Next part will defiantly be confusing. My suggestion; go on YouTube and look up ALL of the Maria/Shadow clip scenes.**

 **Okay…miscalculation on my part. I don't need mercenaries…I need civilians. Mercenaries are a little later in the same story, but I need civilians first. So here's the scoop on that.**

 **No super powers, unless they use it for their own purposes. For instance: someone who has telekinesis, but only uses it at home or during their job. No super hero stuff, no police officers, just civilians. Ordinary people. Also, please try and stay away from hedgehogs. I have a ton of them and need a variety. Thank you! I'll ask for the civilian's now, but NO MERCENARIES UNTIL FURTHAR NOTICE. Thank You!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey y'all. I'm just going to jump right in, if that's alright.**

Nicole's POV:

"What the heck is a GUN shuttle doing in space?"

On the inside I was screaming and kicking. Meanwhile, on the outside I stared blankly at the approaching shuttle. "Sightseeing…what else?" I mumbled.

Maria looked over at me, "You know, don't you?"

"No…"

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying!"

"Right…"

The ship was only about five minutes away. My brain acted quickly, "Maria is there anything your grandfather said that was out of the ordinary this morning?"

"Well…no-wait. I do remember him acting a little nervous this morning. He kept mumbling something about 'it not being fair or humane…' but that was all. Why do you ask?"

My hands started shaking. "Maria, I need you to find Shadow. Stay close to him at all costs…okay?"

The young girl fiddled with her blue dress. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

Chaos spears, this girl was stubborn and annoying. "Will it get you to do exactly what I say?"

"Within reason."

Smart girl, I'll give her that. "I'm from the future, don't speak!" I stopped her with my hand. "I am from about 75 years in the future and no, I am not an alien."

Maria closed her mouth.

"Now, you're going to do exactly what I say without question, got it?"

Slowly the young girl nodded her head. "Can I ask a question?"

"You just did."

"Um…a different one."

"Fine, what is it?"

"What happens to this place?"

I gathered my thoughts as quickly as possible. "GUN storms this place and captures all of the scientists. They shut down 'Project Shadow' and the whole ARK operation. Now are you going to listen?"

Maria scrunched her face in confusion. "Why would they do that?"

I groaned. I had to fall for a young face… "Maria, listen to me. You are…going to need to do what I say and everything will turn out the way it's supposed to. Got it?" I felt so bad lying to a kid.

Maria stood up rather slowly. "Answer me this: Will Shadow be okay?"

Without hesitation, I nodded.

"Then I'll do what you say…lead the way, Nicky."

Suddenly, a large thud hit the side of the ARK. GUN had arrived. Several blasts rang out from the next room and alarms blared. My brain scrambled for all information on the siege. From everything I'd ever read, I never recalled a red hedgehog. But then there were the odd accounts…accounts that never made sense to me or anyone else.

"Maria take my hand, I'm going to change my appearance, but it's just an illusion. When I give the signal, run."

"Okay…" the young girl gripped my hand in determination.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. A small gasp left Maria's mouth. When I opened my eyes, nothing looked different. "What do I look like?"

"Like…like Shadow. I couldn't tell it was you 'til you talked."

"That's the idea. Now…"

A large thumping noise filled the room as several guards pounded on the door. Just as the door was about to pop off, I whispered, "Run!"

The door was shoved off, just as we ran out the far door. Several guards called out for us to stop, but we paid no mind and continued to run.

The hall way whizzed by as we ran for all we had. After running for about thirty seconds, I pulled Maria through a door to the right. As we entered, I had the illusion dissolve…and not a moment too soon.

The actual Shadow the Hedgehog stood in the room with the Professor. Gerald looked up at us in surprise, but before he could respond, I cried out.

"The soldiers are right behind us! Shadow, take Maria. Professor Robotnik, go with them! I'll hold them here."

Before anyone could protest I shoved Maria over to Shadow and pushed the professor out the door. "GO! I'll be fine!"

The three of them began to run with all they had. Meanwhile I pulled my energy together and changed my physical appearance again. This time I did it for real. Before you could say, 'Charge,' I had turned into a bright pink fox.

Quickly, I examined myself. "Ugh…next time Shadow wants to send me on a mission, I'm getting a full debriefing."

Then I hid, just as several guards burst into the room. They cocked their guns and growled in frustration.

"Where'd they go?"

"I don't know!"

Very deliberately, I crept across the room as slowly as possible. One of the guards caught sight of me and shouted, "Hey!"

Very intelligent…not. I jumped behind a table as gun shots rang out. Quickly, I teleported across the room, while turning into a turquoise monkey…yeah I don't know why that popped into my head, but hey, I was trying to buy them time! The stranger the better.

Basically, I teleported and shape shifted around the room for about two minutes until I heard more gun shots and shouts. After that, I decided that I had had enough fun. I teleported to the approximate distance of where I thought Shadow had dragged Maria along.

Sure enough, literally seconds later, the two of them ran into the corridor. I motioned for them to follow me (I had changed back to the red hedgehog just before they arrived) and we continued to run.

As we rounded the corner, we literally ran into a patrolling officer. Before he could react I had jumped up and side kicked him in the head. He crumbled to the ground and we kept running. Quickly, we approached a very familiar room.

To buy some more time, I turned around and blasted the ceiling raptors. They crumbled to the ground, blocking the way and trapping the guards behind the ruble wall.

At some point, Shadow and Maria had lost the Professor, but I didn't care at the moment. I had bigger problems to worry about…like the fact that I was staring at a very familiar room.

I'll give you a hint. It had escape capsules and levers.

Slowly, I stood up straight. "Okay…here comes the hard part…"

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked/demanded.

Maria followed my gaze. Almost like she'd rehearsed the line, "Shadow…get in."

Confused, the hedgehog looked around. His eyes fell on the open capsule. "No, you get in."

The two of them got that look in their eyes; the look that followed a large argument.

I quickly stepped forward. "Oh no you don't! We're being chased by a mini army and you two are going to start arguing?"

After that statement, the two of them shuffled their feet. Maria looked up with a glint in her eye and then walked over to me.

Leaning down, she whispered in my ear, "What happens?"

At that moment, I really wanted to say something like, "You get captured and live another day," anything but the truth. _"I influence the future…"_

Well I'd gotten this far, so I was going to have to cross the finish line. So I turned, looked her in the eye, and then summoned my telepathy.

" _You're going to die."_

The girl stared back at me, with wide eyes. But instead of fear and resentment, they shone with acceptance and determination.

" _Tell me what to do."_

As quickly as possible I gave her the run down. Maria nodded in confirmation then turned to Shadow. "Shadow, get in the capsule."

"No, I'm not leaving you."

She looked at me helplessly.

Without another word, I turned around and shoved the hedgehog into the capsule. The door shut directly behind him. Quickly, I moved right next to it and put my hand on the glass. "I am so sorry." Then I turned to the frightened girl, "I'll distract them just long enough for you to say goodbye."

Whirling around, I ran out the door and summoned another illusion. This time, I was a perfect copy of Maria.

After a few moments of running, I slowed down and tip-toed to the edge of one of the laboratories.

Many soldiers and scientists were in the room. As I watched the scene of rounding up the scientists unfold, one guard caught sight of me.

His eyes widened and I whirled around and ran back down the hall.

"Stop!"

Quickly, I prayed the time was long enough and continued to run in a very similar way of the actual Maria. I shoved the door open and then changed shape one last time.

The actual Maria was standing near the release capsule. Reluctantly, I climbed into the raptures just as she finished her famous speech.

"…a chance to be happy. I only wish that I could go with you."

The guard burst into the room. "Stop! Pull your hands off that lever!"

Maria looked over at him in fear. Then got that darned determined look again. She looked back at the hedgehog.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

" _Shadow, close your eyes! Now!"_

Too late. Maria pulled the lever and a gunshot rang out. The girl dropped to the ground like lead.

I got the briefest look of Shadow's face; it showed disbelief and pain, then it was lost in space.

The guard dropped his gun and back out of the room in disbelief. "No…"

At least he felt awful about it…

Quickly, the scarred man ran out of the room.

After a few seconds I jumped down and ran over to the brave girl. She was still alive, but barely.

"You dumb, silly, brave, girl. Why couldn't you pull it sooner?"

Maria smiled, but it was weak. "What's…what's it like on earth? Does…Shadow…keep his…promise?"

With the realization that she would never live long enough for me to tell her, I took Maria's hand and did the memory spell that Shadow had done on me with his dying breath.

After the images were over, she smiled softly. "You…you watch…over him…please."

"I will, Maria. Don't worry about my mentor, he's in good hands."

The girl smiled, then closed her eyes, "Sayonara…Nicky." Maria drew one last breath and then fell silent.

Slowly, I stood up and wandered out of the room in a shocked state. No solider or scientist saw me as I walked aimlessly about. After several rooms, I stopped in the very room I had arrived in. One of the many tables, lay the red chaos emerald.

"After all of that, I finally found my way home…and it was in the same room that I had arrived in." I really wanted to smack myself. Instead of that, I picked up the emerald and mumbled the words.

The world tumbled and then went black.

 **Okay…not as in detail as I would have liked, but it will have to do. One more chapter and this is done. Very quick story, but it took a lot of planning to come up with, trust me. Review! Review! Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

When I came to, I found myself on a very high cliff, overlooking a large forest. The images of the past were still burned into my mind.

After several minutes of silence, I pulled out NOVA.

 **(I just realized that I completely forgot to put that in. Dang it!)**

Nova was a small hand-held mirror that Professor Gerald had given to me. Basically, it was the most advanced computer to mankind. The whole mirror thing was just a disguise for it. After examining it, I had discovered it could pull up holographic maps, call people, tell time from anywhere in the world, and…talk.

" _ **Hey Nicole. What's up?"**_

"Not now, Nova."

" _ **Oh come on!"**_

"Just call Shadow."

" _ **Fine. Calling your annoying mentor."**_

The phone rang twice before a familiar, "Hello?"

"Why didn't you tell me you big fat idiot?"

"Watch your tone, young lady. Just because I was your student at one point, doesn't mean you get to insult me."

"Well, why did you tell me?"

There was a pause before Shadow answered. "I didn't want you to worry or be influenced by what I said. I knew I couldn't just tell you. You needed to figure it out by yourself."

"So this thing was a test?"

"Of sorts," his tone softened. "Nicole…I want you to take some time to gather your thoughts. Maybe one to two months."

Without another word, I hung up the phone. That was all I needed to hear. After that trauma, I needed a break. As I walked off, I realized that I was still in the red hedgehog form.

" _I'll have to fix that."_

 **That's the end. Sorry if you were expecting more, but I didn't want to much detail. How did y'all like it? Okay…story behind this.**

 **I have seen all of the Maria death scenes from Sonic Adventure 2 all the way to Sonic X English and Japanese versions. NONE of them told the same story. So I figured out a way to combine them. See if you can find where I combined them. I think I had about three maybe four of the clips.**

 **Okay so I will be starting the next story very soon. I need civilians so send them in ASAP. Thanks everyone. Okay the next story will be called, "Forgetting Shadows." This story will have Nicole in it…eventually. You'll just have to be patient. Thanks everyone, and I hope you enjoyed this story and will continue to enjoy the coming stories!**


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